What is Zoharani Mamdani's Wife Rama Duwaji's Connection to Dubai?

Artist Rama Duwaji grew up in the UAE, establishing deep links to Dubai long before marrying New York’s newly elected mayor, Zohran Mamdani. At the age of nine, Duwaji moved to Dubai with her family, a move that anchored her formative years in the emirate. 

During her time in Dubai, Duwaji’s creative foundation was shaped amid a culturally diverse environment. Later, she briefly attended the Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar but transferred to the Richmond campus in the US to complete her degree. 

Her upbringing in Dubai also meant that her family remained in the UAE when she eventually moved to New York in 2022, maintaining the connection between her art-life and the Gulf region. 

Duwaji is renowned as a Syrian-American illustrator whose black-and-white drawings focus on Arab identity, sisterhood, and political resistance — themes that reflect a global and Middle Eastern sensibility. 

Although her marriage to Zohran Mamdani has thrust her into a new public spotlight, her individual journey and Dubai-rooted upbringing add depth to her profile. “Rama isn’t just my wife, she’s an incredible artist who deserves to be known on her own terms,” Mamdani said. 

After an engagement in October 2024, the couple held a private nikah and engagement ceremony in Dubai, on a rooftop near the Burj Khalifa overlooking the city’s skyline, surrounded by close family and friends, in a setting intentionally described as “garden romance” with lush blooms and modern elegance. 

Then, in early 2025, they formalised their union in a low-key civil ceremony at the City Clerk’s office in New York City. The couple also held a three-day wedding celebration at the family estate in Ugandan suburb Buziga Hill (near Kampala) in July of the same year.