Renato Habulan (b. 1953) is an important artist and pioneering social realist born in Tondo, Manila. Habulan graduated from the University of the East School of Music and Arts in 1976. In the same year, he became one of the founding members of the Kaisahan, a collective that advocated for the need to search for a ‘national identity’ in Philippine art and eschewed ideologies from the West. Through the creation of collaborative paintings, posters and banners, the Kaisahan reflected its interest in creating art for the ‘masses’ and visually articulated the injustices experienced by the working class. Habulan’s sustained interest in exploring themes and narratives of social justice has largely shaped his artworks, including Tira (Remains). This assemblage was exhibited at the Vargas Museum in 2014 and the Philippine Art Fair in 2018. In the latter exhibition, the artist had made alterations to the work in response to the Marawi Siege. The artist introduced new materials to the assemblage, such as driftwood from forest wastelands, war materials and skeletal-like body parts to reflect a jarring image of war and violence. Tira (Remains) is also an example of an assemblage in Southeast Asia involving melted candle wax as one of its materials, a motif that references the Catholic religion.