As Virginia elected their next governor on Nov. 4, New Yorkers chose Zohran Mamdani to become their next mayor. His wife, Rama Duwaji, is a Syrian illustrator, animator, ceramist — and she studied at VCUarts before she found unexpected fame.
Duwaji was born in Texas and moved to Dubai, United Arab Emirates when she was nine years old. She attended VCUarts’ Qatar for a year before transferring to Richmond where she graduated with a communication arts degree in 2019.
In May 2025, Mamdani shared an Instagram post that read “Rama isn’t just my wife, she’s an incredible artist who deserves to be known on her own terms.”…