These large barkcloth panels were worn as clothing by both men and women for ritual and ceremonial purposes. Most of the published examples and those in museum collections date from the 1920s and 30s after which the tradition died out but has been revived in recent times in the effort to promote traditional crafts. Panels of bark cloth were also used to cover the bodies of the dead a tradition that survives to this day but with undecorated bark cloth.
Reference:
The best examples published are in Textile Africans, Michèle Coquet pp.124, 125, 126, 127. There is also one published in African Textiles, John Picton, John Mack, pp.167
A link to a UNESCO page, bark cloth making in Uganda is listed as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity https://ich.unesco.org/en/rl/barkcloth-making-in-uganda-00139
