From Hinge to Happily Ever After: Meet Rama Duwaji, The Illustrator Who Captured Zohran Mamdani’s Heart

Rama Duwaji has recently been in the spotlight as her husband Zohran Mamdani this week became the likely Democratic candidate for the mayor of New York City.

Who Is Rama Duwaji?

The 27-year old is a New York-based artist with Syrian roots and her works often explore Middle Eastern themes.

Her work has appeared on publications like BBC, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Vice and also on London's Tate Modern museum.

According to a post Zohran Mamdani made on May 12, where he announced his marriage to Duwaji, Rama is not just his wife but is also "an incredible artist who deserves to be known on her own terms."

She was barely seen during her husband's primary election campaign to lead New York City, which eventually led the opposition to claim that the 33-year-old state assemblyman was "hiding" his wife.

Given that almost all US candidates often put their spouses on full display to show off their commitment to family values, her absence was notably different. This absence was also severely criticised to which Mamdani wrote in a post, "If you take a look at Twitter today, or any day for that matter, you know how vicious politics can be," while he also posted his wedding pictures ed at the New York City Clerk's office.

Rama Duwaji also took to her own Instagram page to post black-and-white photos of the couple embracing with the caption "couldn't possibly be prouder," as the results from the Democratic primary came in earlier this week.

Zohran Mamdani and Rama Duwaji had initially met on the dating app Hinge, which Mamdani had confirmed in an interview for The Bulwark saying, "so there is still hope in those dating apps."

"Before their civil ceremony in New York City, Zohran and his wife celebrated their engagement in Dubai last year - where her family lives - with a small, joyful ceremony surrounded by their loved ones," the Mamdani campaign said in a statement.

They had also held a traditional Islamic 'nikah' ceremony.

Duwaji had graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University before earning a master's degree in illustration from the School of Visual Arts in New York City.

She uses drawn portraiture and movement to examine the nuances of sisterhood and communal experiences.

A lot of her work is in black and white and depicts scenes from the Arab world.

Duwaji was born in Texas and is ethnically Syrian, a campaign spokesman told the New York Times on Wednesday.

Some of her works heavily document 'American imperialism', 'Israeli war crimes' and they also denounce the 'ethnic cleansing' of Palestinians, mirroring some of her policy positions.

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