No matter what niceties and noble expressions of consolation get uttered by the dignitaries on the big night, when it comes to art prizes, Swedish pop/dance quartet Abba knew best when they belted out the cruel, cold truth of it: ‘The winner takes it all, the loser has his fall…’ Or in the case of last year’s Spier Contemporary, the winners took it all – all R700 000 of it – and the losers drowned their sorrows in a flagon of Spier Merlot. Yet even though there were six awards and an additional ‘people’s choice award’, I couldn’t help exiting those bright orange containers installed on the idyllic green fields of the wine estate feeling slightly sodden and grim.

The judges’ choices were perfectly fair and explicable – although admittedly the strong emphasis on performance art was a teensy-weensy bit puzzling – but the show itself was such an extraordinary showcase for genuinely fresh and inventive new voices that I couldn’t help feeling a bit morbid Muriel on behalf of the truly excellent submissions that didn’t even get a mention.

More recently though, on the occasion of a recent lunch at the University of Johannesburg Art Centre for the shortlist announcement of the MTN New Contemporaries, I was reminded of the insightful words of my bold and buxom Argentinian friend, Marcela, who once declared: ‘Life’s a bitch, but sometimes she makes love to you.’ I couldn’t have been more delightfully vindicated with the selection of finalists for the award and not too small a fraction of my joy came from the knowledge that someone else had their eyes wide open at the Spier Contemporary and that there is a kind of justice in these awards, which do create meaningful platforms for exposure beyond the allure of the prize loot.

Somebody else noticed the irresistible, glaring talents of Daniel Halter and Themba Shibase, whose Spier works were just too power-packed to be overlooked. Although I’m not of the school that buys into contemporary social clout as the central criteria for notable art, the weird thing is that both of their work hinges on the madness that currently has Zimbabwe in its vampire grip. Halter is the brains behind a work called All of a Sardine, which features an etiolated little kapenta fish (Lake Tanganyika Sardine) on a Rhodesian Teak plaque in an ironic take on hunting trophies that archly comments on the crass squandering of that country’s rich natural resources. And once you’ve seen Shibase’s sickly green portrait entitled Wena wendlovu (His Excellency) it’s hard to get that image of Robert Mugabe out of the backrooms of your mind.

So that somebody with her eyes wide open is Soweto-born contemporary art specialist Melissa Mboweni, the curator appointed to select the four nominees for the 2008 MTN New Contemporaries Award. Mboweni, a former curator at the Goodman Gallery, started the process with a national research project two months ago, involving tours to studios and galleries, and in-depth discussions with artists. And after weeks of deliberation came up with a nominees list to do us proud. In addition to Halter and Shibase, she has selected multi-media and performance artist Dineo Bopape, who explores issues around urban black female identity, and Michael MacGarry, whose work investigates the infiltration of Western imperialism and colonialism through current experience on the African continent.

Her selection gives one a charged sense of this being a serious competition, where each of the finalists is an equal heavyweight contender for the title. And Mboweni has done another clever thing. In addition to selecting four artists who have already come some way through the thickets of the art circuit independently, she has also subtly curated a thematic show by grouping four contemporary thinkers whose artistic concerns bounce off one another in interesting conceptual ways. So this won’t be a ragtag show of diverse artists brought together by the imperative of the prize money. Mboweni’s selection of artists means that the show itself will have a thematic cohesion, exploring issues of power and governance in contemporary post-colonial Africa. Need I say that I’m looking forward to opening night? The prize-giving event is set to take place on 10 July at the University of Johannesburg Art Gallery and the exhibition will be open to the public until the 13 August. Mboweni will be also doing five public walkabouts – so here’s your opportunity to get to grips with the thinking behind what is bound to go down in local art history as a decidedly trend-setting show.