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WHAT IS UMBER?
One of the first earthen pigments harnessed by humans, identified in cave paintings from as early as the Neolithic period. The pigment has since been utilised by cultures around the globe, to immortalise ancestral knowledge, stories, ceremonial traditions and cultural ideologies through art.
Umber is not one fixed colour or shade. It possesses a complexity entirely dependent on the mineral content within the soil from which it's created. In the Central and Western deserts, home to the oldest single lineage culture on the planet, umber pigments resemble the deep burnt red of Country. This colour has become synonymous with Aboriginal art-making, and reflects a deep intrinsic connection to the land, sustained by the culture over millennia.
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