New York City First Lady Rama Duwaji has traveled overseas again, this time to England, where she worked with global pop star Dua Lipa on an art installation for the 2026 London Literature Festival.
Duwaji, a Syrian-American artist who has drawn attention for her frequent international trips, created animation for Lipa’s “Read the World Differently” public art and billboard campaign. The project promotes Lipa’s Service95 Book Club, a worldwide reading initiative.
Lipa, who is curating the festival from Oct. 20 through Nov. 1, contributed the campaign’s written messages, according to FirstPost.com.
“I ❤️ BOOKS,” Duwaji wrote on Instagram Friday as she shared images of her work.
Duwaji, who is married to NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani, faced criticism in July after leaving the United States for an Islamic “spiritual wellness” retreat on the Spanish resort island of Mallorca shortly before the country’s 250th anniversary celebrations.
The Dallas-raised, Dubai-educated first lady’s solo travel since Mamdani took office on Jan. 1 has also included a July visit to Corsica, France. There, she served as host and artist-in-residence for a sold-out retreat organized by The Women Sanctuary honoring “the legacy of Mary, the most honored woman in the Quran.”
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A month later, Duwaji returned to her artist-in-residence role with The Women Sanctuary for its “Journey through Islamic Calligraphy” retreat in Porto, Portugal.
The Women Sanctuary has faced scrutiny over social media posts calling for Israel’s destruction and urging that “Palestine” be cleansed of its “oppressors.”
“The apartheid colonial state of Israel has committed a genocide against the Palestinian people,” said an October 2025 Instagram post. “Abolish the colonial apartheid state of Israel. Free Palestine.”
Duwaji also has a history of publicly criticizing Israel and the United States.
In a now-inactive Tumblr account in 2015, she praised Palestinian plane hijacker Leila Khaled and members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. She also reposted a statement accusing US service members of “mercilessly slaughtering 3rd world civilians” to preserve “American hegemony.”
