The Ayala Museum has opened a pop-up exhibition that looks beyond Marcelo H. del Pilar's textbook image as a propagandist and reformist. 'Lolo Marcelo: The Man Behind the Hero,' on view at the Diorama Experience Gallery from September 4 to October 17, 2026, foregrounds the personal sacrifices of the writer and editor of La Solidaridad — his years away from his family, his poverty in exile, and his devotion as a husband and father. The show is curated by Pax Pineda, del Pilar's 17-year-old descendant, in partnership with the museum and the National Historical Commission of the Philippines. It assembles rare artifacts, personal letters and artworks on loan from the Marcelo H. del Pilar Shrine in Bulacan, coinciding with the week of the hero's 176th birth anniversary. Through correspondence with his daughters Sofia and Anita and materials such as Dasalan at Tocsohan, the exhibition asks how the political work of a national figure shaped the lives of those closest to him.