Karni Singh Jasol, Director of the Mehrangarh Museum Trust

We were so very sorry to receive a letter from INTO Trustee, SK Misra, telling us that our friend and colleague, Karni Singh Jasol, Director of the Mehrangarh Museum Trust, had very sadly died.

Karni grew up at Mehrangarh and his love for the Fort and its people shone through all his work there.  He was a charming, modest, hard-working, generous, wise and very brilliant curator.  When INTO Chair, Dame Fiona Reynolds, visited Jodhpur in 2007, she wrote in her notes:

“Mehrangarh Fort felt different the moment we entered – I immediately said, Chatsworth!  Here they have pioneered a much more exciting, people-friendly, engaging visit, with live music, constantly changing exhibitions of the Royal family’s historic art and treasures, ‘the best museum shop in India’ and various cafes and restaurants, including a roof top location for romantic dinners overlooking the blue city below.  Moreover, visitor numbers have grown from 150,000 a few years ago to over 600,000 today; a record of which the National Trust would be proud.  The Fort is run by a talented, committed and people-focused curator, Karni Singh Jasol.”

When Karni welcomed the INTO Trustees on our virtual visit to Jodhpur in 2020, he shared the major “Re-imagining Mehrangarh” initiative that was then underway. This aims to take the Fort into the future and Karni and the MMT Trustees were working at the very cutting edge of contemporary interpretation and museology.

Karni was certainly leading Mehrangarh to new heights and was very highly regarded in the Indian heritage sector.  But also internationally and within the INTO family of National Trusts.

He kindly spoke at our INTO/V&A panel on Heritage and Pandemics in 2020. And, as SK mentions, was a key part of our American Express sponsored Putting the Local into Global Heritage study and the presentation at our INTO Online 2021 conference.

Karni was a great talent and a great person.  He leaves a big gap and will be much missed by his peers and colleagues as well as by his friends and family.

I’m sure you’ll join me in passing on our thoughts and prayers to all our friends in Jodhpur, in India, and beyond.

– Catherine Leonard, INTO Secretary-General