AMMAN — A commodious terra cotta chair, edible figurines and candy-shaped stones were among the creations that greeted visitors to Amman Design Week 2019. Taking place for the third time in the Jordanian capital from Oct. 4-12, the fair brought together 250 participants from 13 countries.

This year's theme was “The future is a step away: what are the possibilities?” uniting farmers with designers to offer new perspectives on the future of food. It also included a special "Future City" exhibition that focused on the possibilities of transforming public spaces into secure sites of food production.

Among the exhibition’s participants was Omar Sartawi, a Jordanian chef and creator of Jameed Chocolate who showcased his joint project "Ain Ghazal," based on Stone Age statues discovered in Jordan and now on display at the Louvre Abu Dhabi. Sartawi’s replicas, however, are edible. They're manufactured from a goat milk product called jameed, which is a key ingredient in mansaf, a traditional Jordanian dish of lamb cooked in a sauce of fermented dried yogurt and served with rice or bulgur.

“Jameed symbolizes the Jordanian identity, so our idea was to use solid jameed to form an edible building material,” Sartawi told Al-Monitor. “Within six months, I realized the concept, choosing the statue of Ain Ghazal as the oldest human statue to familiarize people with Jordanian sculpture. It is not easy to introduce art into food.”