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Seven Bridges by SALT at The Late Shows
An interactive sound installation inspired by the bridges of the Tyne.
Creative Central NCL is bringing SALT’s Seven Bridges to The Late Shows this weekend, 8 and 9 May 2026, inviting visitors to experience connection through sound, interaction and shared action.
Installed at Discovery Museum, Seven Bridges is a large-scale interactive sound installation inspired by the seven bridges across the Tyne and what they represent: connection, movement, home, collaboration and shared experience.
“Rivers divide people, bridges connect them,” say SALT.
That idea sits at the heart of the installation. Seven suspended ‘bridges’ will hang above the museum’s main space, with pressure-sensitive pads placed at either end of each one. Visitors are invited to stand on the pads and work together to activate the sound.
Making music together
No one can complete the piece alone. When two people stand at opposite ends of a bridge, they unlock a new layer of music. As more people join in, more layers are added, including strings, brass, voices and percussion, building the composition in real time.
To hear the full piece, fourteen people need to take part at once.
For SALT, the interaction is central to the work.
“The artistic idea is that nobody can affect the installation by themselves,” says Paul Worthington from SALT. “It has to be done in community.”
The music at the centre of Seven Bridges began as a fragment written by Paul several years ago, inspired by the bridges of the Tyne and the feeling of wanting to return home.
“I wrote it about the bridges and about my experience of having to work away — when your heart is here, but the opportunities are somewhere else,” he says. “It’s about wanting to come back and that idea of a journey home.”
The commission brings together more than 20 collaborators, including musicians, singers, artists and technicians with a connection to the North East.
The visual elements of the installation have been created by artist Marcia Ley, who produced screen-printed images of the bridges to sit alongside the sound work. Other contributors include Aurora Strings, The Welfare Collective, and singers Robbie Anderson, Abisola Balogun-Katung and Nathaniel Makarimayi.
The result is a sound installation that changes every time people interact with it. Each connection adds something new. Each person helps shape what is heard.
Seven Bridges can be experienced at The Discovery Museum during The Late Shows.
Behind-the-scenes
Follow Seven Bridges on Instagram to see how SALT brought the whole commission together.
Creative Central NCL X The Late Shows
Seven Bridges is part of Creative Central NCL’s activity for The Late Shows this year, supporting artists to create new work in public spaces and helping more people encounter creativity as part of everyday city life.
The Late Shows take place this weekend across Newcastle and Gateshead, find out more on their website.