Rama Duwaji is a Syrian-born illustrator and animator whose provocative, emotional art and increasing prominence in the international creative world have attracted a lot of attention. She is a Brooklyn-based artist who has gained universal popularity with features in The New Yorker, BBC, The Washington Post, Apple, Spotify, VICE, and Tate Modern.
Although she has developed a remarkable portfolio by herself, she has also attracted attention as the wife of the NYC politician and mayoral candidate, Zohran Mamdani. Her visual practice is concerned with themes of sisterhood, healing, diaspora identity, and emotional resiliency, which are frequently explored through portraiture and quiet movement to convey profoundly human stories.
Rama Duwaji Biography | |
|---|---|
| Real Name: | Rama Duwaji |
| Birth Date: | June 30, 1997 |
| Age: | 28 Years |
| Birth Place: | Syria |
| Height: | – |
| Husband: | Zohran Mamdani |
Early Life
Rama Duwaji was born in 1998 in Syria and raised in Damascus. Being closely related to her Middle Eastern roots, her background influenced her artistic perspective significantly. Her childhood was marked by a powerful family system and a deep exposure to Syrian culture.
She has lived in Dubai, UAE, with her family during the pandemic, which illustrates the transnational aspect of her personal life. She subsequently immigrated to the United States to follow her interest in the arts. Rama graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communication Design from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU).
Rama Duwaji subsequently joined the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York, where she earned a Master of Arts degree in Illustration. Her educational experience enabled her to experiment with visual storytelling in both analog practice and digital media, establishing the precondition of her emotionally charged and culturally grounded artistic practice.
Rama Duwaji Career
Rama Duwaji has become a successful illustrator and animator, combining autobiographical aesthetics with Syrian cultural identity. She studied BFA at Virginia Commonwealth University and a Master of Illustration at the School of Visual Arts in New York, and started to create artwork focused on exploring identity, sisterhood, and emotional healing.
Her individual style employs a muted, expressive visual language that really speaks to viewers experiencing the themes of displacement, femininity, and cultural memory. Her art has been featured in large-scale publications and sites such as The New Yorker, The Washington Post, BBC, Apple, and Tate Modern.
Rama Duwaji usually uses warm color schemes, textural overlays, and symbolic patterns that address her Arab heritage and diasporic outlook. She also makes hand-built ceramics, often reflecting the same emotional softness and vulnerability that appear in her two-dimensional art, extending her artistic themes into a tactile dimension.
Outside of her visual work, Rama has been an active participant in the creative community by giving workshops, artist talks, and collaborative events. She has given workshops with organizations such as It’s Nice That, and her work has been part of group exhibitions, including Palestine: Drawing, Documenting, Defying at the P21 Gallery in London. These donations show her continued dedication to making art a tool of connection, learning, and healing. Her work is still developing and revolves around personal yet relatable storytelling.
Social Media Presence
Rama Duwaji has an Instagram account (@ramaduwaji) with a follower base of 75.4K. Her profile is a mix of art and self-reflection. Her Instagram grid is filled with sketchbook pages, works in progress, updates on exhibits, and insights into her life. Rama also uses the platform to interact with her viewers, market her ideas, and empower the voice of the marginalized in art.
Although she does not post anything too personal or political, her posts are usually poetic and deliberate. Her visual material is inclined towards the calm tones, detailed drawings, and significant captions that define her emotional and cultural sense.
Personal Life
On Hinge, Rama matched with Zohran Mamdani, an NYC Assembly member and mayoral candidate. They were engaged in October 2024 in Dubai and married in early 2025 in a civil ceremony in New York, after which they had a family celebration.
Although she is a low-profile figure, Rama is a political supporter of Mamdani and joined him onstage following his June 2025 primary victory. She is closely connected to both families, a doting sister and aunt, and frequently writes about loved ones and pets. She is child-free but appreciates family and shared care in life and art.
Rama Duwaji Net Worth
By 2025, Rama Duwaji is estimated to have a net worth of 200,000 to 500,000 dollars, most of which she has earned as a freelance illustrator, animator, and teacher. She has built a sustainable, autonomous creative business with prominent clients and consistent work with international brands and editorial publications. She has not been financially dependent on the political career of her husband and has been steadfast in establishing her own legacy as an artist, a public figure, and a creative voice of her generation.