The Indigenous history of Blacktown on Dharug country in Sydney's western suburbs is rich, culturally significant and at times troubling to recount.

Blacktown Art Centre's Songlines and Sightlines exhibition returns for its second year and tells this story of the area through those who see its many sides.

The artwork explores an interweaved history of the area invites local artists to depict their connection to the land and ancestral ties to the area, and community participation in making their additions.

Dharug artist and knowledge holder Leanne Mulgo Watson (Redpath) spoke of Blacktown's history as a central place for her people, where many settled before moving around the area and more recently, where her mother and grandmother grew up.

Ms Watson worked alongside fellow Dharug artist Erin Wilkins and urban sketcher Peter Rush on the project.

"The place was called blacks town after all of our people living there," Ms Watson said.

"Blacktown is pretty significant, but all Dharug Country is, for different reasons.

Community additions to Songlines and Sightlines exhibition at Blacktown Arts Centre. image provided.

Ms Watson said the area was traditionally used for it's proximity to natural resources and a site for crafting stone tools.

It was also the site of the Blacktown Native Institute, a school for Aboriginal and Maori children which observed assimilation policies in the early 19th century.

"It's a terrible history," Ms Watson said.

Her contribution to Songlines and Sightlines favours local customs and continued celebration of the area's place in the creation story over contemporary Blacktown, without shying away from the intrusive impact of colonisation.

"I like to show in the Songlines and Sightlines, that we still have that connection, even though these places are developed," she said.

"The Dharug people still are connected to that place and connected to that land.

"(In the artwork) we start with the creation story, and then we go through to when it was birds and animals which in our culture, they're our brothers and sisters.

"We intertwine our story into the modern Blacktown, showing that we're still here, and that we still have our culture in that place."

The exhibition's curator Tian Zhang said the concept encouraged thought about connection to place and a sense of ownership.

Songlines and Sightlines exhibition at Blacktown Arts Centre. image provided.

The collaborative element of the artwork allows for the expression of this connection.

Visitors are encouraged to add their own details to the piece.

"We wanted was to explore Blacktown in a really participatory way," Ms Zhang said.

"Not just to see things from the artists perspective, but also think about their own connections, and how they might show that on the wall as well.

Songlines and Sightlines is part of the larger Blacktown City Festival and opened May 19 with local elders invited to make the first additions to the project.

The exhibition runs until July 2 at the Blacktown Arts Centre.