Dr. Darla Nageswara Rao
Replica Artist, Hyderabad. Retired Chief Designer, Government Central Press, Chanchalguda, Hyderabad, Telangana, India. Also known as N.R. Darla, Replica Artist Darla, and DARLA (Different Art of Replica in Letter Art) — the acronym he later gave his own art form.
Since first exhibiting a handwritten replica of a newspaper front page in 2004, he has pursued Replica Art with exceptional fidelity to the printed page — reproducing newspapers, sacred texts, the evolution of the Telugu script, and patriotic public artworks by hand. His work has drawn sustained national and international record recognition; see the Recognition page.
Born
Born 12 January 1959.
Replica Art debut
First displayed a handwritten front page of the Telugu daily Eenadu at the Vishwakarma Arts & Crafts Exhibition on 15 May 2004.
Newspaper replicas
Completed handwritten front-page replicas of about forty newspapers in Indian and international languages.
Ongoing practice
Continues an active Replica Art practice spanning sacred texts, patriotic public art, Telugu script studies, and documentary work.
Government Central Press
Retired Chief Designer, Government Central Press, Chanchalguda, Hyderabad.