Rama Duwaji: The Syrian Artist Who’s About to Become the First Lady of New York

Have you heard the news? There’s going to be a new mayor in New York. And, while the world is celebrating the election of Zohran Mamdani, we’re more interested in his wife, Syrian artist Rama Duwaji.

Duwaji has been all across our Instagram feeds lately, often stealing headlines because she met her husband on the dating app, Hinge. But it's her artistic background that we want to highlight here. Born in Texas to Syrian parents, Duwaji is an illustrator whose work has been featured in The New Yorker, and by the BBC and Apple. She moved to Dubai at the age of nine, and grew up across the MENA region.

Having graduated with a degree in communication arts, she moved to New York City in 2021 to study illustration as visual essay at the School of Visual Arts. Today, her black and white animated illustrations are striking, and often touch on issues affecting the MENA region and its diaspora. Amongst many hard-hitting topics, her work has addressed the Gaza genocide and the current Sudanese Civil War, she is also interested in social justice and women’s rights.

Duwaji also creates ceramics, and Mamdani has even been quoted as saying that she isn’t “just his wife”, but also a talented artist who deserves recognition on her own terms. She should also gain credit for helping the mayor-elect with the design for his campaign. CNN reported that Duwaji was the one that helped come up with Mamdani’s bright blue and yellow colour palette.

In addition to making art that talks about the difficult part of life, Duwaji is an artist who loves art and artists. Every month she posts carousel slides on Instagram highlighting things and artworks that inspire her to create art herself. Duwaji will officially become First Lady of New York on 1 January 2026. We’re sure New York’s in good hands with an artist as the right-hand woman to its new mayor.