Lifestyle
A South African artist hopes vibrant sculptures make parks more welcoming in a city known for danger
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — James Delaney wants his public art in South Africa’s biggest city to be more than a magnet for selfies and a delight for children. He’s determined to have the vibrant metal sculptures change the mood of its gritty and sometimes dangerous neighborhoods.
Over the past decade, Delaney has designed more than 100 sculptures for The Wilds Park in Johannesburg. A striking red steel kudu antelope stands near a hill’s summit. A curious assembly of stencil owls peer down from jacaranda trees. A life-size pink giraffe installation dominates a grassy clearing.
“Artworks can bring a sense of life to public spaces,” said Delaney, a 53-year-old sculptor and painter who has exhibited his work in London, Paris and New York.
“And public spaces need lots of people to be functional and to be safe.”
Authorities in Johannesburg have encouraged public art to improve safety and environmental conditions in the city of some 6 million people whose downtown has a reputation for crime and degradation. Johannesburg is considered one of the world’s most dangerous cities, based on crime data.
Much of Johannesburg’s street art and public works reflect South Africa’s former life under the white minority rule of apartheid and the efforts at reconciliation after that divisive system ended.
Delaney’s work strives to do something simpler for residents in a city where dirty, uninviting sidewalks and safety concerns make it rare for the average person to take a stroll.
“One can create a public space which is grass and trees and it’s OK and nice. But one has to do more than that to really attract people and to capture their imagination,” Delaney said.
The Wilds is in the midst of Johannesburg’s contrasts.
One side of the park is bordered by the tree-lined Killarney suburb and affluent Houghton, home to Nelson Mandela during the final years of his presidency as the country’s first Black leader. The other side borders a transition into the bustling, sometimes broken-down areas of Berea and Yeoville.
Lydia Ndhlovu, a 38-year-old mother, watched her children play on the jungle gym, a break from their apartment with no yard.
“I don’t feel safe being alone here with them, but I like seeing the elderly people enjoying the park from my window, because then I know we can be free and also come,” she said.
Some residents say Johannesburg’s reputation for crime is unfair.
“Quite often the narrative in the city of Johannesburg is all parks are unsafe,” said Jenny Moodley, a spokeswoman for Johannesburg City Parks, which maintains 22 nature reserves, 15 bird sanctuaries and more than 2,000 public parks.
“Many of these open spaces are safe, little children play unsupervised, and we know elements such as art reinforce that this is a vibrant space to play, to come together with your families and friends and to also express yourself,” Moodley said.
Delaney first encountered The Wilds as an overgrown, deserted park while walking his puppy Pablo — named after Picasso — in 2014. Since then, he has repaired and painted benches, pruned plants and attracted volunteers and donors to help turn it into a buzzing meeting point.
The special ingredient might be the sculptures that now draw moms with babies, yoga enthusiasts and schoolchildren from nearby apartment blocks.
Delaney last week unveiled a second urban park regeneration in Killarney, where a 3-meter-high (9.8-foot) bright orange gate features a sculpture of a raptor perched on a native aloe plant, encouraging passers-by to enter and explore.
Anna Starcke, an 88-year-old former political analyst and journalist, is one of Killarney’s oldest residents, though her pink lipstick and green sunglasses strike a more contemporary tone. To her, the art in the parks speaks of inclusion. One of the delights of her day is chatting with other visitors.
“It’s very important that people get the feeling that it’s theirs because that is the big thing, that Black people (during apartheid) never felt it’s theirs,” she said. “If we can get a majority of people to care about their parks, art in their parks, and being together in their parks, sitting on the same bench, then we have won.”
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NUUK, Greenland (AP) — Greenlanders celebrated National Day, the Arctic island’s biggest summer festival, on Saturday to mark the solstice with songs, cannon salutes and dances under 24 hours of sunlight.
Revelers across the semi-autonomous Danish territory, which is also coveted by U.S. President Donald Trump, honored the longest day of the year north of the equator, where the solstice marks the start of astronomical summer, with a march through their hometowns waving flags and participating in a seal hunting competition.
The national holiday was declared in 1985, following a referendum on home rule six years earlier, with the inaugural raising of the red-and-white Greenlandic flag. As the sun came out, locals gathered for the day of festivities, visiting friends and families, eating and dancing together.
Greenland’s roughly 56,000 inhabitants look forward to the midnight sun each year from May 25 to July 25, before the long, dark winter reappears.
The strategic, mineral-rich island has made headlines after Trump declared it his mission to make it part of the U.S., saying it’s crucial for American security in the high north.
Trump has not ruled out military force to seize Greenland despite strong rebukes from Denmark, a NATO ally, and Greenland itself. Danish and Greenlandic leaders say the island is not for sale and have condemned reports of the U.S. stepping up intelligence gathering there.
On Saturday, Greenlanders tried to leave politics behind to enjoy the seemingly endless summer sunshine.
Locals in traditional clothing made of pearl collars and seal hides started the day by marching toward the Colonial Harbour with Greenland’s national flags.
Johannes Ostermann, 20, said he loved the holiday because “you get to go out in the city and you get to meet the people you haven’t met in a while, and you know they’re going to be there because it’s a big day for Greenland and we enjoy each other’s company.”
“Everyone says congratulations to each other, everyone’s saying hi, everyone’s being very very nice because it is a very nice day for us all,” he added.
At 9 a.m., a cannon salute marked the beginning of the annual seal hunting competition, with participants in boats rushing into the sea.
It took about an hour for the first hunter to come back with the seal. The animal was cut open for an inspection. The organizer said the meat will be distributed to nursing homes, and all other parts will be used to make clothing.
Pilo Samuelsen, one of the winners of the competition, enjoyed his victory and the fact that the holiday brings together the community and keeps their culture alive.
“The seal hunt competition is a nice tradition,” Samuelsen said. “It’s a day of unity and the celebration.”
Sofie Abelsen, 33, said she hoped her people would continue their celebrations because “modernization and globalization is a danger to all Indigenous people and Indigenous countries.”
“So I hope they will continue the traditions … so they don’t disappear,” she added.
LONDON (AP) — As the sun rose Saturday on the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, a crowd erupted in cheers at Stonehenge where the ancient monument in southern England has clocked the summer solstice over thousands of years.
The orange ball crested the northeast horizon behind the Heel Stone, the entrance to the stone circle, and shone its beam of light into the center of one of the world’s most famous prehistoric monuments. The solstice is one of the few occasions each year when visitors are allowed to walk among the stones, which are otherwise fenced off.
The crowd gathered before dawn at the World Heritage Site to mark the start of summer in the Northern Hemisphere, beating the heat during the U.K.’s first amber heat-health alert issued since September 2023. Temperatures later topped 33 degrees Celsius (91.4 degrees Fahrenheit) in Surrey, 80 miles (128 kilometers) east of Stonehenge, the hottest temperature recorded in the U.K. so far this year.
About 25,000 sun devotees and other revelers, including druids, pagans, hippies, locals and tourists, showed up, according to English Heritage which operates the site. More than 400,000 others around the world watched a livestream.
“This morning was a joyous and peaceful occasion with the most beautiful sunrise,” said Richard Dewdney, head of operations at Stonehenge. “It is fantastic to see Stonehenge continuing to enchant and connect people.”
Stonehenge was built in stages 5,000 years ago on the flat lands of Salisbury Plain approximately 75 miles (120 kilometers) southwest of London. The unique stone circle was erected in the late Neolithic period about 2,500 B.C.
Some of the so-called bluestones are known to have come from the Preseli Hills in southwest Wales, nearly 150 miles (240 kilometers) away, and the altar stone was recently discovered to have come from northern Scotland, some 460 miles (740 kilometers) away.
The site’s meaning has been vigorously debated. Theories range from it being a coronation place for Danish kings, a druid temple, a cult center for healing, or an astronomical computer for predicting eclipses and solar events.
The most generally accepted interpretation is that it was a temple aligned with movements of the sun — lining up perfectly with the summer and winter solstices.
MILAN (AP) — Dolce & Gabbana beckoned the warm weather with crumpled, take-me-anywhere comfort in their menswear collection for spring-summer 2026, previewed during Milan Fashion Week on Saturday.
The show opened and closed with a relaxed pajama silhouette — deliberately rumpled and effortless — in a clash of stripes, with both shorts and long trousers.
The Beethoven soundtrack belied designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana’s more deliberate intent, underscoring the designers’ structured approach to soft tailoring.
A broad shoulder double-breasted suit jacket and tie worn with pink pinstriped PJ pants encapsulated the classic summer dilemma: work vs. pleasure.
Raw knitwear, or furry overcoats, added texture. Boxers peeked out of waistbands, and big shirt cuffs out of jacket sleeves, challenging formal and casual codes.
Nothing was cleaner on the runway than a crisp striped pajama top in sky-blue and white stripes tucked into white leather Bermuda shorts — good for work and for play.
The designers’ finale featured pajama suits, shorts and pants, with beaded floral patterned embroidery for an evening seaside shimmer, worn with fuzzy sliders. Twin cameo brooches gave an antique accent.
The crowd outside got to share in the fun when the finale models took the looks onto the streets, taking a full lap outside the designers’ Metropol theater. Front-row guests included actors Zane Phillips, Theo James, Lucien Laviscount and Michele Morrone.
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