A GROUP of Aboriginal artists are using their art to help residents understand the origins of their city.
The Black(s)town exhibition features works from local artists Danny Eastwood, Jamie Eastwood, Kayelene Slater, Jake Soewardie and Zona Wilkinson, as well as pieces from Adam Hill, Jason Wing, Leanne Tobin and Robyn Caughlan.
The exhibition will be at Blacktown Arts Centre until August 29.
The exhibition explores the origins of Blacktown, using historical and contemporary Aboriginal characters.
Darug artist Leanne Tobin said her paintings explored the spiritual nature of indigenous people and the stories buried beneath the city's concrete and tar.
Kamiloroi artist Jake Soewardie said his Williamson Avenue, Seven Hills painting recalled his growing up in a 1950s fibro house where there were green frogs and tortoises in the yard.
``After moving around different areas of Sydney, I settled in Seven Hills as my family is there,'' he said.
A spokeswoman said the exhibition was inspired by the stories of the original Blacks Town settlement, which emerged from the first land grants to two Aboriginal warriors Nurragingy and Colebee, along Richmond Road in Plumpton in the early nineteenth century.
She said the settlement was set up to take in residents from Governor Macquarie's Native Institute in Parramatta.
``Blacks Town bloomed, then almost died. The name survived, and today's Blacktown is the fruit of Governor Macquarie's experiment.''
The exhibition is open Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm. The centre is at 78 Flushcombe Road, Blacktown.