Among a tightly-packed crowd on a subway train from Astoria to New York City Hall, Rama Duwaji was on her way to get married. Wearing a white gown with knee high boots, she walked into the city clerk’s office with flowers in one hand, and Zohran Mamdani’s hand in the other. Without an entourage, a close friend and photographer captured their exchange of vows.
A few months later, far from the quiet and personal wedding ceremony, Duwaji found herself under bright lights in Queens in front of a roaring crowd. Her husband took her hand and kissed it, thanking her as he declared himself the Democratic nominee for Mayor of New York City.
Duwaji also created illustrations highlighting the experience of Reem Ahmed, an architect from Gaza who was trapped under the rubble of her home for 12 hours after an Israeli airstrike which killed members of her family.
In April, the artist shared a post titled “Art in times of crisis,” in which she discussed feeling burnt out, living in a “turbulent” New York City, and her belief that “Art is inherently political in how it’s made, funded, and shared.”
Her online presence appears to be more private regarding her personal life, instead showcasing her various illustrations and animations.
Many of these artworks focus on social and political commentary. An animation from May depicts a young Palestinian girl holding a large empty pot with the words “Not a hunger crisis” emblazoned across it, before transitioning into a view from above of several people holding similarly empty vessels overlaid with text reading, “It is deliberate starvation.”
“As I was making this, Israel has been bombing Gaza nonstop with consecutive airstrikes,” Duwaji wrote in a caption, sharing a link to the account of a nonprofit aimed at supporting refugees and displaced people. The post came amid Israel’s weeks-long, near-total blockade of aid to Gaza.
