The Net Curtain, The British Icon

http://www.icons.org.uk/nom/nominations/netcurtains

The following website documents an ongoing search for symbols that best represent british culture and all its forgotten heritage. The list is comprised of 100 icons in which the public are invited to vote. The site aims to 'intrigue individuals and organisations, we also want to interest people who might not normally go to museums or art galleries.' ICONS is a non profit organisation that prides itself in 'stimulating interactive ways of exploring different cultural landscapes.'

Quoted text from article:

'The original point of net curtains was to stop prying eyes looking in to your house if you had little or no garden. At the same time, because of their diaphanous, lacy texture they didn’t stop the light from entering. Genius.

What they are famous for, of course, is the fact that you can look OUT without being seen. Net curtains have come to be a symbol of suburban pretension and hypocrisy: coyly hiding our business behind them whilst actively sticking our nose into other people’s. We have been accused of being a nation of “curtain twitchers” and the net curtain is the main weapon in our armoury. Their supremacy is now under threat, however. 69% of people who do not have net curtains say it is because “they don’t like them”, and 42% because they are unfashionable. The decline in net curtain coverage has proved a success with burglars who find it easier to decide which houses to rob, but less so with the nation’s pet parrots who frequently bang their heads trying to fly through unadorned windows'

Comments made by the people who voted on net curtains being deemed to be the winner said the following:

Comment No.1

As a foreigner, I get tired of the nosiness of my English neighbours. It really seems like you have no privacy in this country! Such constant interest in how other people live their lives. One of the rules where I live in the North is that I should leave my windows uncovered. None of my neighbours have nets. Since our flat was broken into when we lived in Birmingham, we put nets on the front windows when we moved here. Now I'm sick of the constant staring in through our back windows. I'm going to put up nets in the back of the house as well. English people really need to learn how to mind their own business, and I mean really mind it, not just pretend.

Comment on Net Curtains posted 2007-07-03 by Anonymous from Near Manchester


Comment No.2

I live in a sixties property and have stuck with my nets through thick and thin for various reasons. 1. They keep my first floor flat considerably cooler in the summer as they reflect the sunlight from my huge windows - could be like a greenhouse. 2. They keep out quite a lot of road pollution. If you look at how dirty they get by the fanlights you realise that grim could have entered in your lungs. 3. Privacy - I have no wish to live in a goldfish bowl. They do need to be kept clean, plain and uniform though.

Comment on Net Curtains posted 2007-01-23 by C Davies from Mid-Sussex


Comment no3

Net curtains mean something to me because they have a cultural aspect to them. They are used globally and by different types of culture. there are many meanings that can be derived from the use of net curtains. I stumbled across this website because I use net curtains in my art work at college and was needing to find further sources of what other people felt about nets. I had made an installation that came from other various ideas I had regarding issues of camouflage and protection. the piece of art I had made with the net curtains resembled a tent, suspended from the ceiling, the four panels were then displayed out into four points. through this installation many thought processes came from using this material. as with all art, materials are questioned and we are asked why do we use such and such material. I then began a small rant about them. they symbolize; privacy, sense of order, a kind of neatness and tidiness. you cannot go beyond the nets up in the window, there is a barrier between you and them, a barrier you cannot cross, it shouts keeep out, i like my privacy, gipsy trailer, middle class, council house, old grannies. taking notice of what is there when the owners do not want you to know what is there. A sense of contradiction when they want privacy but, they are spying on you. there is a feminine ideology with net curtains. soft, flowing and delicate. the lace reminds us of veils worn by brides either here in this country or with other cultures. There is the sense of dressing up to play either something innocent or something a long the lines of a brothel. There is a sense of being cocooned and protected by the womb of safety, contentment. Net curtains are all encompassing of what the owners are both private and voyeuristic. I could go on but i will end here. These were the ideas going through my head and also patterns that are used on nets can sometimes be overlooked and not realise that some designs span centuries. Without net curtains i would not really have come up with the paintings that i have produced in the last few months. i think they are great because i need them for stencilling. Personally i would not use them. I prefer coloured voiles or lots of big plants on my window sills. THANK YOU FOR READING MY PERSONAL VIEW ON NET CURTAINS.

Comment on Net Curtains posted 2006-06-05 by Tina Donovan from kent, cranbrook